Bhubaneswar: Police arrested three cannabis smugglers Friday for allegedly kidnapping a young man from Infocity area Wednesday and demanding a ransom of Rs 3 lakh for his release.
The accused have been identified as Sakil Khan (36), Sannidhya Mohanty (30) and Sk Tahir Ali (26). The victim has been identified as Sunil Mohanty.
According to police, the accused trio had abducted Sunil while he was returning to his house at Nayagarh in his Scorpio. Sakil Khan, the prime accused in the case, has been involved in cannabis trade in Mahanga area of Cuttack for past few years.
“Sakil had given Rs 2.8 lakh to another cannabis peddler in Nayagarh to procure the contraband. Sunil was present during the money deal. However the other cannabis trader neither delivered the contraband nor returned the money,” said a police official.
“They abducted Sunil and confined him to a room in Mahanga. They also called the father of the victim and demanded Rs 3 lakh to release him. We traced the mobile phone of one of the accused who had called for the ransom money and subsequently arrested them. We are further verifying the antecedents of the accused,” the police official added.